Mr. Trideep Bhattacharya

CIO - Equities, Edelweiss Asset Management Limited

With PGDM in Finance from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai and B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur , meet our CIO – Equities – Mr. Triddep Bhattacharya.

Trideep comes with over two decades of experience in Equity investing across Indian and Global markets. Prior to joining Edeleweiss AMC, he was instrumental in builiding a market leading PMS business at Axis Asset Management Company, as Senior Portfolio Manager – Alternate Equities.

He has also spent a significant amount of time as a Portfolio Manager at State Street Global Advisor and UBS Asset Management (London, UK). When not occupied with work, Trideep loves playing Tennis, Bridge and is hands on with few musical instruments.

Q. What is your assessment on the recent bounce in the market?

Answer: While there could be several reasons for recent buoyancy in equity markets, we surmise that a “better than feared” June quarter earnings season and steep correction in commodity prices could be two of the major reasons that have been instrumental in improving sentiment in equity markets in near-term.

Q. What should be the positioning from September to December end? Any important data points to track in the coming month?

Answer: We are constructive on equity markets from a 3 year perspective. This is driven by our positive stance on the following themes which falls across multiple sectors:

• Rebound in Credit Growth

• Private Sector Investment Demand

• House-hold Capex Demand

• Beneficiaries of Govt. growth schemes and China plus one demand

• Consumer facing companies with pricing power

We expect stocks exposed to these themes to do well over medium-term.

However, after 15%+ rally in the near-term, we see Indian equity market at current levels to be more of “Relative Value” market rather “Absolute Value”. Hence, we expect investors to follow an “STP or SIP” approach towards investing over next few months.

Q. What are your views on auto and realty? Both these sectors rose in double digits so far in July?

Answer: We are positive on Auto and direct and indirect plays on real-estate.

Q. Do you remember your first bad phase in the market? How did you navigate it?

Answer: The following aspects have always helped me during tough phases of market:

• Stay consistent and true to conviction over time.

• Maintain a fine balance between “Patience” to let the investment thesis play out over time versus accepting “mistakes” soon enough.

• Thinking long-term prospects of the business rather than paying undue importance to quarterly earnings.

Q. What is your mantra of picking winners for your portfolio? Is there any specific parameters you see before making buying or a selling decision?

Answer: We follow “FAIR” investment framework for picking stocks in our portfolios.

In essence, we are bottom-up investors, and interested in “Financially Clean” companies that can grow sustaInably over medium-term. Furthermore, we are interested in fundamentally Robust businesses that not only grow but can maintain good profitability and return ratios through the business cycle. Finally, they should be available to us at an Acceptable Price.

Q. For an investor, is it time to play on the front foot and bat aggressively or is it time to go on the back foot?

Answer: In our opinion, India’s current economic strength is perhaps “The best it has been compared to last 10 years” and also, “The best compared to the world” on a relative basis. Hence, for an investor with a 5-10 year time-horizon, we are optimistic on India’s equity markets from a medium-term perspective.